Tray-raising mechanism



April 8, 1924. 1,489,447 H. L. LEEB TRAY RAISING MECHANISM Filed Sept.17. 1921 N 3 N INVENTOR. .i. M

BY M r/ 173M l I ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

VUNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE HENRY L. LEEB, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY,ASSIGNOR TO THE PRO-METHEUS ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW YORK. f

TRAY-RAISING MECHANISM.-

Application filed September 17, 1921.-

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I,.HENRY L. LEEB, a citizen of the United States,residing at South Orange, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTray-Raising Mechanism, fully described and repre sented in thefollowingspecification andthe accompanying drawings, forming a part of t e same.V

This invention relates to tray raising mechanism and has for an objectto provide a. simple mechanism for raising and lowering a tray in areceptacle.

The mechanism affords a support for it tray from which the tray may bereadily removed and a connection with the cover of the receptacle forraising the support when the cover is opened and lowering the supportwhen the cover is closed.

In carrying out the invention I provide a. tray support rigidlyconnected to a supporting link which is pivotally secured to the hingedcover of a receptacle, and means for constraining the movement of thelink in suchmanner that as the cover is] turned on its hinge allpositions assumed by the link are parallel to eachother so that the traysupport is not tipped when in itsmovement.

While the tray raising mechanism may be applied to receptacles of allsorts it is particularly useful when applied to a sterilizer as a meansfor raising and lowering the perforated tray in which the instruments tobe sterilized are supported. In'the accompanying drawings, therefore, Ihave illustrated the mechanism as applied to the sterilizer. 7

In these'drawings: a

-,Fig. 1 is an endelevation of a sterilizer having a tray'raisingmechanism incorporating the invention, one side of the waterreceptaclebeing broken away;

Fig.2 is a front elevation of the sterilizer, showing the front of thewater receptacle broken away f Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view takenon the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and showing the connection between the link,the support and the guide. ,7

The sterilizer shown in the drawings has a casing 10, the upper portion11, of which serves. as a water receptacle. The wateris lowered bymovement of.

serial No. 501,296.

usually kept at about the level indicated by the dotted line. 12. Withinthe casing 10 belo-w-thebottom of the-receptacle 11 may beprovidedelectrical or other means for heating the water in the receptacle.Thereceptacle-is provided with a hinged cover 13. Within the receptacle11 is aperforated tray 20 the opposite ends of which are supported onmovable tray supports 21, 21. The tray supports 21, 21 are Open so as topermit the tray to be lifted from them. They are most desirably made inthe form of angles as shown and each of them is shorter than the widthof the receptacle 11. ,Their supporting surfaces 22 aresmooth so as topermit sliding of the tray upon them.

hetray support 21 is carried by a supporting link 23 which is pivotallyconnected to the cover 13 at 24. The tray support 21 and the link 23arerigidly secured together so that they make each other.- In order toprevent the tray support 21 from. tipping as it is raised or the cover,means are provided for constraining the movement of the supporting link23 in such a way that as the cover moves all positions assumedby thelink are parallel'to each other; It willv be noted that as the cover' l3is turned about its hinge-the pivot point of the link 23.will move inthe are indicated by the dotted line A. cans are provided forconstraining a point of the link 23 spaced from its pivot point to movein an are similar to the are A sothat the direction of :thelinkwill notchange as the cover is move In the form illustrated the. constrainingmeans for the link 23comprises a guide 25 which has outwardly turnedends 26 secured to an. inner wall of the receptaclell. The guide25contains a slot 27 which has the form of an are similar to the are A. Tothe link 23 near its lower end is secured a pin 28 which passes-throughthe slot 27 inthe guide 25. The pin is provided with a head 2.9,toprevent it from sliding out of the slot. Asillustrated in Fig.3 the pin28 may serve also as a rivet tosecure rigidly together the traysupport21 and the link 23. The support and the link are most desirablysecured together at such an angle that the support extends horizontally,as illustrated.

a fixed angle with a 21 is carried and the guide 25 are in the same wayas the link 23 guide '25.

The operation of the device described is as follows lNith the cover openand the parts in the position illustrated in the drawing the instrumentsto be sterilized are to be placed in the tray 20. The cover is thenclosed. During this movement each end of each of the links 23, 23 movein similar arcs so that the tray suppo-rtsQl, 21' remain alwayshorizontal. During the lowering the supports are moved towards the frontof the tank 11 (to the right in Fig. 1), their supporting surfaces 2:2sliding under the tray 20 which is constrained against forward movementby engagement of the inner wall of the receptacle 11. The lowering ofthe tray plunges the instruments into the hot water in the tank 11.After the sterilizing has been completed the cover 13 is opened, raisingthe tray to the position illustrated in the drawing. The instruments maythen be removed from the tray or, if desired, the entire tray may belifted from the supports 21, 21 and removed from the receptacle.

I wish it clearly understood that the invention has been described inconnection with a sterilizer merely for the purpose of illustration asit is applicable to many other sorts of receptacles. Furthermore, theword tray should be understood in a broad sense as covering any innerreceptacle or article-support which may be placed within the receptacle,regardless of whether or not such inner receptacle or article-support iscustomarily referred to as a tray.

Many changes may and arrangement of without departing from theinvention. lVhile'I shall not attempt to mention all such changes, Iwish to note that it is not essential that the constraining means havethe form ofslotted guides.

What is claimed is:

1. Tray raising mechanism for a receptacle having a hinged cover,comprising a supporting link pivotallyv secured to the cover, means forconstraining the link so that during the movement of the cover allpositions of the link are parallel to each other, and a tray supportrigidly secured to the link.

2. Tray raising mechanism for a receptacle having a hinged cover,comprising a supporting link pivotally secured to the cover, means forconstraining the link so that, during the, movement of the cover allpositions, of the link are parallel to each other, and a tray supportrigidly secured to the link at such angle thereto as to extendhorizontally.-

3-. Tray raising mechanism for a receparranged and the be made in theform the parts described tacle having a hinged cover, comprising a linkpivotally secured to the cover so that its pivot point moves in an arcas-the cover is turned on its hinge, means for constraining a point ofthe link spaced from its pivot point to move in an are similar to thearc in which the pivot point of the link moves so that the direction inwhich the link extends remains unchanged during the movement of thecover, and a tray support rigidly secured to the link.

f. Tray raising mechanism'for a receptacle having a hinged cover,comprising a supporting link having its upper end pivoted to the coverso that said upper end moves in an arc as the cover on its hinge, meansfor constraining the movement of a point of the link spaced from itsupper end to move in an arc similar to the are in which the upper end ofthe link moves so that the direction in which the link extends remainsunchanged movement of the cover, a tray support rigidly secured to thelink and having a smooth supporting surface upon which the tray mayslide. 7 5. Tray raising mechanism for a receptacle'having a hingedcover, comprising a supporting link having its upper end pivoted to thecover so that said upper end moves in an are as the cover is turned onits hinge, means for constraining the movement of a point of the linkspaced from its upper end to move in an are similar to the arc in whichthe upper end of the link moves, and an open tray support rigidlysecured to the link and having a smooth supporting surface upon whichthe tray may slide and from which it may be lifted.

6. Tray raising mechanism for a receptacle having a cover, comprisingsupporting strips located adjacentto opposite inner walls of thereceptacle and having supporting surfaces adapted to extend underopposite ends of the tray, and a rigid connection between each of saidstrips and the cover arranged to retain the strips always horizontal andto depress and raise the strips as the cover is closed and opened. I

7. Tray raising mechanism for a recep-, tacle having ahinged covercomprising supports for opposite ends of tray located adjacent oppositeinner walls of the receptacle, a link rigidly connected to each of saidsupports and pivotally connected to the cover, guides secured toopposite inner walls of the receptacle and each having an are shapedslot,-and a pin extending from a point of each link spaced from itspivot point through one of said slots.

8. Tray raising mechanism for a receptacle having a hinged covercomprising angles located adjacent to" opposite inner walls of thereceptacle and each having a during smooth surface extending under oneend of the tray, links having their upper ends pivoted to the cover,guides secured to opposite inner walls of the receptacle and eachcontaining an arc-shaped slot, and two rivets each serving to securetogether one of the angles and one of the links and having an extensionpassing through the slot in one of the guides.

9. The combination with a receptacle having vertical inner walls, of ahorizontal tray suppoit having a smooth supporting surface, actuatingmechanism for said support adapted to give it simultaneous vertical andhorizontal movements in the receptacle, and a tray having a slidingengagement With the supporting surface of said support and constrainedagainst horizontal movement by a sliding contact with the inner Wall ofthe receptacle.

whereof I have hereunto set presence of two subscribing In testimony myhand in the witnesses.

HENRY L. LEEB. Witnesses:

A. JAREcKY, HILDA M. BECK.

